The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
